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T.A.ZELLBRS. MANUFAGTURE OLE GLASS.

No. 66,274. l Patenteauulj 2, 1867.

@einen tatrs gstttt @fitta THEODOR A. ZELLERS, OF EAST BIRMINGHAM, PENNSYLVANIA.

y I Letters Patent No.` 66,274, dated` July 2, 1867.

'i i IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFGTUBE 0I"l GLASS.

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'.lO ALL WHOM'IT MAY CONGERN: r y

Be it known that I, THEODOR A. ,ZELLER of East Birmingham, in` the county oifAllegheny, and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in -the'Manufacture of Window-Glass; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which` i Figure 1 is a vertical section, formed by a plane passing through the flattening-oven in the line z-z, iig. 2. s Figure 2 is a. horizontal section, formed by a plane passingthrough the line fl/-yb-g. 1; and

Figure 3 lshows in perspective the apparatus by which I use,-as fuel, oils land oily products and compounds. Like letters of .reference in the different figures designate like parts. Inl the manufacture of window-glass the molten glass is usually blown into the shape of la hollow cylinder, which is then cut or fractured lengthways, s o as to be spread out, when sufficiently heated, into a flat sheet. My invention relates to an improved furnace for attening such glass, and consists in treating such glass cylinders by the application of the heat evolved in the combustion of hydrocarbon oils or'ttheir products orl compounds, and in the construction of apparatus for burning such oils, in connection with a furnace .or oven fitted with suitable devices for handling-and flattening the glass.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed-to describe its construction and mode of operation. I l

Aa is the attening-oven,'covered hy the arch a. and enclosed by walls of any convenient material, shape, or mode of construction. ,Through a door or opening iu the lfront wall I introduce the glass cylinders successively, Yeither by a car, b, or place them in the oven on a raised platform in lieu of the car b; the upper face of; either the car or platform being concave, as shown in tig. 1, the better' to receive the glass cylinder. As shown in the drawings, the car rests on'a revolving platform or turn-table, c, so that, carrying the glass cylinder, it may be brought to the position it is shown'to-ocupy in tig. 2, either by its handle, Zi', or by a lever, c, attached to the standard c', which supports the turn-table c. d is the flattening-car, having a perfectly dat surface, its top usually of stone, on which the glass cylinder is smoothed out into a dat sheet when suiicicntly heated, Aand by which it is borne back through a door or aperture, e, in the rear wall of the attening-oven a to a tempering- 'oven, f, of the ordinary construction, where it receives further treatment inthe usual or any known Way. The car d is moved back and forth by pow'ercommunicated through a shaft, g, and pinion, g/to the toothed rack d attached tothe carA d. The burningapparatus whichI employ consists of a trough or box, h, furnished with two or more supplypipes-one, l, for the'dmission of. water, and ariother, l', for the admission of oil, benzine, gasoline, or other hydrocarbon or product or 4compound thereof, inammable at a comparatively-.low temperature, and lighter than water. In order touguardagainst danger of accident, I cause thewater pipe Z to discharge its contents higher up in the trough h than the o il pipe- Z. I thus keep the mouth of thel latter continually covered with water, so as Ytopi-event all possibility of the re passing back through the pipe l to the reservoir, or otherwise endangering life or property, The oil or oily product or compound thus introduced spreads over the sur" face of the water,where it is readily ignitedfand continues burning till the supply' is either cut cif or exhausted. Since such liquids as thoseabove'namedrequire for their complete and perfect combustion a considerable quantity of oxygen, I provide for such want by intermingling any desirable quantity of atmospheric air with Athe products of thecombustion of the oil,introducing"the air for that purpose through pipes z'z'inserted in the bottoni of the trough 7l. The upper ends of such pipes i z' are even with 'or a little above the surface' of the burning oil, which is kept at a uniform level by carrying ofthe superfluous water, if lany there be, by a small wastepipe, m. In this way the'quantitypf oxygen requisite to sccurc'the completecombustion of the oil is secured, so that all. er nearly all thecarbonof the oil oroily duid employed, which wpuld otherwise pass oti in the shape of'smoke, is converted into heat, and, passing-upthreugh the attening-oven a, is directly applied to heating the glassV on the attening-car d. I The superuous products of combustion pass' o' 4through the chimneys nin, where the .draught Ais regulated by one or morefdamprs, n', in each. I

After the car b, with the glass cylinder resting thpreon, is brought to the position shown in` 13.12, the operator introduces his tool o r cropper through an opening in thefront wall of the furnace', carefully lifts the `cylinder therefrom, places it 'on the car d, where, with the usual tools, he spreads itont, as `it becomes softened by the heat from the burning oil` As soon as it has been vproperly flattened, itis passed lback into thp` tempering-ovenf, as already stated, removed from the car d, and subjected to the usual-treatment. The car d is returned tothe flattening-oven a, und the operation repeated witl'i each successive cylind'ep. In that part of the process of making window-glass to which my invention particularlyrelates, the fuel heretofore generally employed usually contains more or less sulphur, which, as the fuel is consumed, passes off in a gaseous state,A and, coming in contact with the glass, materially lesse-ns its transparency, and produces what is called sub phured or smoked glass. Also, the draughtwhich supports the combustion, when coal or coke is employed for fuel, invariably carries with it into the furnace more or less dust, usually 'of the ashes of combustion. This dust settles on the fiat surface of thetop of the' car d, and when the glass is iiattened down, and is in a plastic' condition, it produces irregularities in the surface'of the glass, known among window-glass makers as pimples. :By treating the glass in the manner described, with the heat evolved in the combustion of hydrocarbon oils or their products or compounds, I avoid both of the practical ditiiculties' above suggested. Such oils are usually free from sulphur or sulphurous compounds, so that the glass is not `at all liable to injury thereby, andthe .combustion of such oils producing no ash, and the products of combustion being wholly consumed, the flatteningoven a is wholly free from dust, smoke, or other deleterious matter of a similar character. Another advantage which I secure is a better application of the heat. In such furnaces or ovens a somewhat'rapid draught or' current of heated air is required, in order that' the glass cylinder may be raised to the desired temperature without unduly heating the' dat stone which usually forms the top' of. the car d. If` a high heat beapplied directly to the'stone, or` if a dead heatbe kept up in theoven, the stone is liable to become so highly heated as partially to melt the` glass thereon while it is beihg iiattened,'in which Acase the glass settles 'into the pores o f the stone, and produces a defectivequality of windowglass known as burnt glass. Also, by supplying oxygen, and securing a perfec'v combustion of the carbon contained in the fuel employed, I economize fuel, and save the'waste of carbon which attends the process of coking bituminous coal, which is now done in order to prepare it for such uses. And further, by my invention I utilize benzine, gasoline, and other products of the s, distillation of crude petroleum, which are of little or no commercial value;y or I use the-crude'petroleum itself, whereby I effect a great saving in the cost of the fuel.. By the use of the cocks'a o I regulate the supply of oil and water, or cut off such supply altogether, and by the dampers nn' I increase or lessen the draught,and thereby regulate-the applicatioh of the heat to the glass. In connection with the devices described, I sometimes use a furnace of the ordinary construction, which I place immediately under the rire-box 7L, and .in such case make the {ire-box h removable, Then, if so preferred,`when about, to heat up the oven a, (an operation which requires about twelve hours,) I remove the fire-box L, heat up the oven a, by burning the fuel usually employed for such purposes, in the ordinary way, and, when the oven is'properlyvh'eated, replace the fire-box L, and proceed thereafter substantially in the manner above described. The heat from such furnace may then be employed to perfect the combustion of the oil or oily products or:v4 compounds. In order to secure cheapess of construction and convenience in handling, I usually make the box or trough l1., air pipes z' z', and supply and waste-pipesl Z l" m of cast iron, and cast them solid'in one piece. The pipes ll may be coupled with the -pipesv leading tojthc rescr voirs in any convenient way, so as readily to be uncoupled for the purpose of removing the box t. By the use of the turn-table c or vib'ratory car b, I s eoure another desirable result. If tbepole or croppcr. of t-hc. operator, when he is about to lift the glass 'cylinder from the car b to the iiattcniug-stone, be passed into'the cylinder otherwise than in a line parallel with the axis ofthe cylinder, the pole, first coming in contact witirthe. cylinder at one end, frequently causes the edges of thc cylinder, where cut or fractured preliminary to its being attened out, to slip past each other, and lap one'on the other from one-eighth to half an inch, more'or less. The. edges so lapping .will not be actedon bythe heatv to the same extent'as the remainder of the cylinder, whereby is caused an unequal expansion of the different parts ofthe glass, which commonly results in the cylinder or sheet becoming utterly worthless, It. has beeuobservcd also that the edges so lapping contract dampncss between them, which facilitates greatly the unequal action of the hept, and consequently aids materially in spoiling the glass. By my invention, the cylinder is turned with one end toward the opening in the front wall of the oven, through which the operator passes in his pole or cropper in ali'ne directoi` nearly so, with the axis of the cylinder, bringsthe cropper in contact with ,the Vinside of the cylinder throughout its entire length, and removes it to the iiattening-stone, without causing or giving-rise to the danger of injury above suggested. In this way Isavo a considerable percentage of the loss which occurs in the manufacture of window-glass. In burning the oils named, and applying the heat evolved thereby to the uses above set forth, I do not limit myself to any particular form offire-box or burning apparatus, provided only a perfect or .nearly perfectI combustion of the oil is secured, but I consider the form of box described to be especially adapted to the purpose `above set forth. l i W What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl 1. Treating glass 'cylinders in a attening-oven, and reducing them to flat sheets, by the heat evolved from the combustion of hydrocarbon oils,or their products or compounds, substantially in-.tbe manner andfor the: purposes hereinbefore set forth. v

2i IIn connection with an oven for flattening glass, the' car b and turn-table c, or a raised vibratory platform in lieu thereof, for the purpose of so turning glass cylinders as to enable the operator, standing'in front of the ilattening-car, to insertlhis oropper in such cylinders, in a. line with the axis of each such cylinder, substantially in the manner and for the purposes above set forth. .t

In testimony whereof I, the said THuoDon A. ZELLnns, rhave hereunto set my hand.

THEODOR A. ZELLERS.

Witnesses:

A. S. NrcuoLsoN, Gao. H. Gummi. 

